UBER CEO: Surge Pricing Is Here To Stay, Get Used To Ithttp://www.businessinsider.com/uber-surge-pricing-2014-1/comments
en-usWed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500Wed, 13 Dec 2017 21:26:35 -0500Caroline Mosshttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cdbe126da811781d6c658awei-min chuWed, 08 Jan 2014 16:07:30 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cdbe126da811781d6c658a
The comparison to airline flights at christmas time and hotel rooms is deeply flawed. Both airlines and hotels are well-regulated. If Uber is bucking regulation of any kind.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6f0eecad04e726752998Miz from Long IzWed, 08 Jan 2014 10:30:22 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6f0eecad04e726752998
Wrong. Uber cannot restrict the supply. Surge pricing in this case does the opposite...lures more drivers out on the road, increasing supply. And it weans out people who can't or won't pay the inflated price, reducing demand. People are forgetting Uber is sort of akin to Orbitz vis-a-vis the airlines. Uber is more of a booking platform for independent drivers and other taxi companies than an actually provider itself. What do you think is the bigger problem on say New Years Eve: lack of supply or overwhelming demand? Sure there is a lack of supply, but its not because of surge pricing...its because there are a finite amount of cabs/cars...the real issue is the huge demand at these times.
I get it... I left the Wrigley Field Pearl Jam concert at 3am and tried to Uber a car back home... It was 4x surge pricing...Would have cost me over $300....Did I whine or complain? Nope. I decided to walk a bit away from Wrigley to try to get a cab. There were NO cabs/cars to be found. Ended up walking about 3 miles over an hour or so before I found one. I made a choice there NOT to use Uber. And in hindsight, I am glad I did. Uber wasn't worth it. Wasn't a bad walk. But there are people who are willing to pay that 4x price, and there are times where I would as well. That's the beauty of it. IF I want to pay up to "cut the line" and get a car quickly, I am able to. Free market at its best, even if that night I was disappointed I couldn't get a reasonable Uber car.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6ba9ecad042e1e75299bkrypticWed, 08 Jan 2014 10:15:53 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6ba9ecad042e1e75299b
"surge" pricing rewards shortages and encourages the restriction of supply.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6aa669beddde171099fbMiz from Long IzWed, 08 Jan 2014 10:11:34 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6aa669beddde171099fb
How exactly are you forced to accept their pricing? You go on the app, it says surge pricing in effect. There are multiple warnings. Does a little Uber Gnome show up on your shoulder with a gun and says "hit accept or I shoot?"
For all you whiners, its simple. DON'T USE UBER! There are plenty of people happy with Uber and accept the pricing structure. Enough in fact to have a thriving business that is growing. I can't stand these self-entitled babies who think its in the US constitution that you're entitled to a taxi at the snap of a finger and a minimal cost.
Do you really think because there isn't an "auction", that there isnt market pricing?? Priced too high, enough people will say "F it" and prices will come back down. These cabs and cars aren't going to drive around empty artificially keeping the surge pricing in effect.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd653deab8eae729752993theanphibianWed, 08 Jan 2014 09:48:29 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd653deab8eae729752993
huh, it looks like the problem here isn't paying market price, but being forced to pay "market price".
Looking further into the issue, it seems the guy is assuring us that his own personal algorithm figures out what the price should be at any particular time... there's no bidding process. Take a step back, and realize that if there's no bidding process, the concept of market price is baloney.
Customers are too jaded by hostile business practices to tolerate things like this. Every company wants a user base that is locked in. They want customers who made decisions based on the assumption that the service will be available, and will pay whatever is demanded. There's no basis to assume good intentions or cooperative practices. History forces us to assume the opposite.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd637f69bedd3609109a03DonaldWed, 08 Jan 2014 09:41:03 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd637f69bedd3609109a03
Bonehead play, Uber. Since I can't predict when I'm going to get screwed with surge pricing, I can't rely on the service any more. It's broken my Uber habit.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6284ecad04da0b752992Miz from Long IzWed, 08 Jan 2014 09:36:52 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6284ecad04da0b752992
As I said to Sasha...good luck finding a cab on your own during the really busy periods. I've stood on a corner on the Upper East Side of NY forever on a Friday evening trying to get downtown. You better believe I'm more than happy to pay more to get a cab quickly and easily. If you're not, there is nothing wrong with that. But thats on you, not on Uber. If Uber prices get too high, enough people will say forget it, and supply will open up, lowering or eliminating surge pricing. but if plenty of people are willing (and that is the key word here that you and Sasha need undestand) to pay the surge rates, then that is the fair market price. Uber isn't making you accept their higher prices.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6164eab8ea2820752996Miz from Long IzWed, 08 Jan 2014 09:32:04 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd6164eab8ea2820752996
You don't get it. During those times, demand far strips supply and you will have a very hard time finding a cab on your own. Like on New Years Eve, did people really think "oh, I'll just hail a cab on the corner on my own" and have any luck?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd5e806bb3f731065aed71Dr. Cornelius Quaid, Jr.Wed, 08 Jan 2014 09:19:44 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd5e806bb3f731065aed71
Uber could transform the transportation game but the greed of the driver or the company is standing in their way. Good to know that you can get a reasonable price when you don't need something and an extremely high price when you do. Also, terrible analogy to hotels, like Sasha said, we can just take regular cabs or the metrohttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd567becad04f17375299cSashaWed, 08 Jan 2014 08:45:31 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52cd567becad04f17375299c
And watch me go back to taking regular cabs, or the Metro. The beauty of Uber was a reasonably priced, safe, clean ride on demand. If its going to be that expensive at the times of day when people really need the transport, might as well go back to a cab. A nicer car isn't worth 2-3x as much fare in my opinion. Sorry Uber, this will be a huge mistake